In September of this year, I will reach my two-year anniversary of being in my current position at work. You know what that means?
It’s time to find something new.
I’m happy with the company I work for, and I’m even happy with the group I’m in and I really like my boss. However, none of that is a good excuse to stop learning as much as possible.
And the best way to learn as much as possible is to take a new job.
Change Jobs Every Two Years
Let me be clear, I’m not planning to leave my current company. In fact, I’ve already talked to my boss about my desire to find a new job, specifically a promotion, in a different group. He said that he not only thinks it’s a good idea, but he’s going to try to call in a favor from another manager and find me a great position.
My theory is that early in your career, it probably takes anywhere from one day to one year to get really good at a job. Once you’ve gotten really good at a job, you’ll want to do that job for about a year to execute on the skills you’ve learned and be a highly productive worker.
After a year of execution at a high level, it’s time to hand off all your hard work to someone else and go solve a new problem.
It’s dangerous to work a job for a really long time for two reasons.
First, you have very little job security when you are only good at one thing. If your company no longer needs that one thing, you’ll probably lose your job. Furthermore, if you work the same job for 10 years, your company might decide to fire you and hire someone else with 10 fewer years of experience who will be much cheaper.
Secondly, it is much harder for you to move into a new position and get a promotion. When you work the same job for 8 years, your boss relies on you to do that job. He or she may be unwilling to promote you because you are deemed vital to that particular function. It is also hard to sell yourself to a new manager and convince them that you can learn a new job when you haven’t learned anything new in a decade. Say goodbye to any big promotions and raises.
To Stop Learning is to Stop Growing
The human mind is truly an incredible thing, but it needs exercise. If you do the same thing over and over and never have to think really hard to solve a problem, your brain stops getting exercise. And when your brain stops exercising, it starts getting fat and unhealthy.
Ok, maybe it doesn’t get fat. But your brain is a muscle, and if you don’t flex it every now and then it’s going to get weaker.
So step outside your comfort zone, apply for a position that’s really going to challenge you, get yourself a raise, and put your brain to work!
Going back to school and pursuing a useful degree is also an excellent way to exercise your brain. If you have been apprehensive about the idea for fear of having to drop everything and stop your career, then you should seriously consider online school. This new method of learning allows you to take classes around your schedule. Learn at your own pace and pursue a degree that can open the doors to just about any career you can dream of! All you have to do is go online and see what’s available.
Readers: How long have you been in your current position at work? When do you plan to find a new job?
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
I can’t imagine a job in which you actually learn everything within two years. I work in a pretty big complex organization so I will definitely not know everything in two years, but even in a smaller company.. I don’t know. There’s also ways to continue to learn within one company. But hey, if you like to move around a lot who am I to judge.
An interesting premise in this post. I do think you have some valid points although they may not apply in every situation.
I *hate* starting a new job. I guess if you’re at the same company, it’s not too bad, but working for a new place and having to learn everything from where the bathroom is to how they handle vacation time is just overwhelming to me. That said, I can see where you’re coming from, especially since you’re young. Too many people work in one job for years and years and when they get laid off, they don’t know how to do anything but that job.
I’ve been working the same boring desk job for about 4.5 years now, and I’m ready for both a career and location change. I just set a date to leave and created a blog to write about the whole experience too.
Can’t wait to read about what you decide to do!
I worked in my last job for 4 years, then left the company for a new job because there was no opportunity for growth at the first company. I’ve now been with the new company for about 1.5 years and am thinking about my next move too. The problem is, there’s no other department in this company that I’d be interested in moving to – and a promotion is unlikely. However, I’m not sure I want to find another new company to work for.
Jobs are fairly transient these days, but I’m not sure about the 2-year timetable. I’ve been on about timetable that has varied from 6 months to 6 years, although not always by my own choice. So far, in my career, I’ve had 4 companies fold out from under me, and 2 move to some place I didn’t want to go.
I’ve also spent about half of my current programming career as a contractor, which is transient by nature, and had the advantage that I was never asked to be a manager.
I’ve noticed that I’ve pretty much had to “re-invent” myself on roughly four-year intervals. The software that I was writing in 1977 has no discernible resemblance to anything I’m doing now. However, since I’m coming to the end of my programming career, that brings up the possibility of finishing out as a legacy-systems programmer until I decide to retire.
And, I’m not really going to retire, but switch over to my 4th career, teaching little kids how to play the violin.
I have been at my current company and position for 3 months. I should be moving up in 3 years and if not I will have to reconsider then.
I suppose if your job is more process oriented than project oriented I suppose you might learn all there is to know in 2 years, but I feel like that is still a stretch. I’m a CPA and I’ve been with my current firm for 3 years now. I still learn something new everyday. Nothing excites me more than a random client email asking an off-the-wall question that requires a ton of research. Yes, I’m a dork.
I agree with everything you said except the time frame. When I was a Controller, Vice President of Finance or CFO, 5 years might be appropriate before moving on. There may be opportunities sooner, but these are big jobs that requires longevity.
I’ve been at my job for 7 years, but I’m only 30, which means I spent most of my twenties in the same office at a university.
I was reclassified after 3 months, and then reclassified about a year later, but otherwise I’ve been in the same position. Luckily, I’m in a place where I (1) have fixed raises every year, and (2) have the opportunity to take workshops and join committees for projects.
Unfortunately, I work in a place where merit raises are not allowed, and neither are promotions.
I apply for a new job within the university about every year or so, but only if something comes up that I’m really interested in. I love my coworkers and management and the work that I do, so I’m not anxious to leave– However, I’m sure that some time in the next five years I’ll want to move on. I can’t imagine working the same position from 22 to 65!
I was promoted after about a year in my job. I think that the next promotion is 2-3 years away if I get the right projects in the meantime. My team has shifted, I’ve had a couple different managers, and we have worked on entirely different projects throughout the 2+ years I have now been on the team. Until I feel that I can’t reach the next promotion in my current group, I will probably stay where I am and my first reach for a new job would be asking my director to sponsor me somewhere. (He totally would.)
So in a way, since my manager and I are planning for my next promotion, I am looking for a new job, but it’s a few years out.
I agree with everything, including the timeline. I’ve been at my current job for 2.5 years, and I’ve been itching to move on for about half that time. When you work at big companies that are highly structured and compartmentalized, most jobs can be mastered fairly quickly. Yes, there are daily challenges and wrenches thrown your way, but that doesn’t offset all the hours (and days) spent completely feeling unchallenged by the grunt work that comes with every position; and let’s be honest, most office jobs are just silly grunt work devoid of any meaning to those who are performing the actual work. Sadly, promotions and raises make themselves scarce in times of economic uncertainty, so switching jobs (and companies) is sometimes the only way to give yourself a better job and raise.
I’ve been working at my current position for a little over 8 months (IT at financial institution). We are small and I’m already at the top of my field. I agree with your timetable whole heartedly. I’m actually getting extremely antsy now after 8 months. I thinking about moving on into the self-employment world. Even if I don’t stay self-employed forever, I do think everyone should experience working for yourself.
At the age of 28 and I’ve been with my organization for 8 years, started while I was in college. Spent my first 2 years floating between two different groups. I’ve been with my current group for 6 years, and have been promoted about every two years and always working on different unrelated projects (always having to learn something new), so I don’t feel too stagnant.
The other organization that I had worked with, for whom I still occasionally freelance for, I’ve been with on/off for about 10 years. My former boss has also been the source of several other freelance jobs through her contacts.
As for my day job, at this point I can only go so far up the ladder without a PhD… which is never going to happen. So I’ll probably stick around for another year or so, then look for another position hopefully incorporating both of my “careers/specialties”… or maybe go freelance full time.
I think the main reason I have stayed at my current organization for so long is because my job was pretty much unaffected by the layoffs during the worst of the recession. I watched friends and family getting laid off while I kept moving up the ladder.